Archive for March, 2014

The 2014 superyacht racing season started on a strong note, with Moonbird winning Class C at the 2014 Loro Piana Caribbean Superyacht Regatta & Rendezvous. Moonbird, built by Fitzroy Yachts and designed by Ed Dubois, is a 123′ sloop that was recently fitted with a new mast and Stratis ICE sails. Matt Bridge from Doyle Sails New Zealand was sailing with the team on Moonbird. Second place was the Oyster 100 Sarafin, and third was Tempus Fugit, a new 90′ sloop from Arkin Pruva Yachts – both of which carry Doyle sails.

Moonbird. Photo by Superyacht Media.

In class A, the 164′ sloop Ohana placed third and Leopard by Robertissimawas fifth with full Doyle inventories. Chris McMaster and Justin Ferris from Doyle Sails New Zealand were sailing onboard Ohana.

The next event will be the St. Barths Bucket, with racing starting on Friday the 28th. Moonbird, Sarafin and Ohana will be joined by other Doyle powered boats, including Axia, Blue Too, State of Grace and Zenji.

Perfect conditions 10-15kts and warm and sunny weather provided a great weekend of sailing in San Diego for the annual NOOD Regatta.

Mark Stratton and his Crew on the Beneteau-40.7 Laguno won all 6 races in the 40.7 class to take the win. Laguno used a complete set of Doyle Stratis ICE sails for the event including a New ICE Mainsail and ICE LM #1. All of the sails were made by Doyle Chicago, with John Baxter onboard to celebrate his birthday on Sunday with the clean sweep.

New Stratis ICE Mainsail aboard Laguno.

New Stratis ICE Genoa aboard Laguno.

Bill Purdy and his Whirlwind Team made the trip to San Diego from the east coast. Bill chartered a Beneteau 36.7 and brought his Doyle sails out for the event. Bill used a brand New Doyle Stratis #1 made by Mark Ploch in at Doyle City Island. Bill also won every race in the event in the 9 boat Beneteau 36.7 Division.

Congratulations to Senet Bischoff and his team of Benjamin Kinney and Clay Bischoff, for winning the 2014 Jaguar Mid-Winters, the fourth and final regatta of the 2014 Jaguar Series. KGB had top six finishes in all but two of the seven races sailed over the three days in Biscayne Bay, Miami, FL. The most impressive part of this victory is the team was comprised of all Corinthian sailors competing against many of the top professional teams worldwide.

“In the past, Ben and I treated this as a social endeavor,” admitted Bischoff. “We always sailed with a bunch of friends, and had a great time, but we never had a consistent third crew. This year we added my brother Clay, a two time team race world champion and former college sailor of the year, and it’s been huge.”

“We are an all Corinthian (amateur) team so we don’t come in early to practice. We did buy a new set of Doyle sails from Jud Smith, and that has been a big help. Jud is very open and honest in helping us get better. We can send him a photo of our sails and he will respond immediately with tuning advice.”

The Fleet at the 2014 Etchells Mid-Winter Championships. John Payne Photo.

The Mid-Winters concluded the 2014 Jaguar Series and a second congratulations is in order for Peter Duncan and his team, Jud Smith and Tom Blackwell, for winning the 2014 Jaguar Cup after finishing 4th at the Mid-Winters this past weekend! Both teams utilized the new Doyle APG Main, NLM-5 Jib and VMG Spinnaker.

“The Jag”, as it has come to be known, is a four regatta series, spread out over four weekends between December and March, and brings together many of the best Etchells sailors in the world. Hosted by Biscayne Bay Yacht Club and Etchells Fleet 20, the series consistently draws fifty or more boats to the good weather and great competition on Biscayne Bay. Teams from USA, Canada, Bermuda, Great Britain, Ireland, Switzerland and Ukraine are preparing for the World Championships to be held in Newport, RI this June.